The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office says sales representatives for the company that makes OxyContin kept encouraging doctors to prescribe the powerful opioid painkiller even when it realized they were serving patients who were addicted to the drug.

The state makes those allegations in a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma filed earlier this month and announced Tuesday.

Pennsylvania is at least the 39th state to sue the Connecticut-based company seeking to hold it accountable for an opioid addiction crisis.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro says the state sued because the company isn’t negotiating in good faith for a settlement — something the company disputes.

The company says in a statement that the claims are part of an effort to try cases in the court of public opinion rather than the justice system.